Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, driven by the continuing strength in the Japanese market and as traders reacted to a bunch of economic data from China, Japan and Australia. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

Traders also digested the highly anticipated report on US consumer price inflation in December, which showed a bigger than expected increase. A number of economists have said the data makes the US Fed less likely to cut interest rates in March, with many predicting the central bank will hold off until its May meeting.

Giving up some of the gains in the previous session, the Australian stock market is slightly lower on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 stayed a tad above the 7,500 level, as traders reacted to bigger-than-expected US consumer inflation data that dashed hopes the US Fed will start cutting interest rates earlier.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 3.80 points or 0.05 percent to 7,502.20, after hitting a low of 7,474.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 2.20 points or 0.03 percent to 7,734.60. Australian markets ended notably higher on Thursday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining more than 1 percent, Fortescue Metals is adding almost 1 percent and BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent, while Mineral Resources is edging down 0.3 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.4 percent, Origin Energy is gaining almost 4 percent, Beach energy is advancing more than 2 percent and Santos is adding almost 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.1 percent, while Appen and Zip are gaining almost 1 percent each. Afterpay owner Block is losing 1.5 percent. Xero is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.1 percent, while Westpac, ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Gold miners are mixed. Evolution Mining and Newmont are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is losing almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is gaining almost 4 percent and Northern Star Resources is adding almost 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Nuix dived more than 10 percent after the embattled software group said it expects to take a hit to earnings for first half fiscal 2024 due to legal costs from its ongoing court battle with ASIC.

Shares in CZR Resources soared more than 15 percent after it unveiled a deal to sell a long-stranded iron ore project to Chinese interests for $102 million.

Shares in Healius plunged more than 6 percent after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating to underweight.

Shares in graphite producer Syrah Resources surged almost 5 percent after saying it expects to begin ramp-up of its US project production by the end of the month as it will be hampered by cold weather set to hit Louisiana next week.

In economic news, the overall value of home loans in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent on month in November, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday = coming in at A$27.58 billion. On a yearly basis, overall lending rose 13.1 percent, owner-occupied lending climbed 10.6 percent and investment lending jumped 18.0 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.671 on Friday.

Adding the strong gains in the previous four sessions, the Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Friday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is moving above the 35,400 level, with gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights and exporter stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 35,422.95, up 373.09 points or 1.06 percent, after touching a fresh 34-year high of 35,839.65 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is surging more than 5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.2 percent and Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.4 percent, while Screen Holdings is adding almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Canon is edging up 0.1 percent. Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, FUJIFILM is gaining more than 3 percent, while Sapporo Holdings, Sumco, Takara Holdings and Nitori Holdings are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In economic news, overall bank lending in Japan was up 3.1 percent on year in December, the Bank of Japan said on Friday - coming in at 614.599 trillion yen. That beat forecasts for a 2.7 percent increase and was up from 2.8 percent in November. For the fourth quarter of 2023, overall lending rose 2.9 percent, lending excluding trusts climbed 3.2 percent and lending from trusts added 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Japan posted a current account surplus of 1.926 trillion yen in November, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday. That missed forecasts for a surplus of 2.385 trillion and was down from 2.583 trillion in October. Exports were down 4.5 percent on year to 8.623 trillion yen and imports slumped an annual 11.4 percent to 9.348 trillion yen for a deficit of 724.1 billion yen. The capital account saw a deficit of 30.0 billion yen, while the financial account posted a surplus of 1.087 trillion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 144 yen-range on Friday.

Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan are higher by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each. South Korea and Singapore are down 0.3 percent each. On Wall Street, stocks staged a notable recovery attempt in the latter part of the session after turning lower over the course of morning trading on Thursday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, eventually closing roughly flat.

The Dow fell as much as 270 points but rebounded to end the day up 15.29 points or less than tenth of a percent at 37,711.02. The Nasdaq also crept up 0.54 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 14,970.19, but the S&P 500 edged down 3.21 points or 0.1 percent at 4,780.24.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.0 percent, the German DAX Index slid by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Thursday as prices rebounded on likely disruptions in trade and supplies after Iran seized a tanker with Iraqi crude marked for delivery to Turkey. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended higher by $0.65 at $72.02 a barrel.